Imperial Quest
by Holy Chaos
Summary: Over eighty years after the events of Slayers TRY, Lina and Zelgadis are brought together again to help defend and Empire from beyond the Demon Ocean. Just one catch, no one knows anything about the enemy.


Slayers:

Imperial Quest

Lina, Zelgadis and all other Slayers characters are not my property and are used without permission. Gelsere Invermaine, Falara il Gesdane and their associates are my creations and please ask if you want to use them, I'm not unreasonable.

                Water splashed in the puddles that littered streets. In days gone by the street had once been cobbled and smooth, but over the years the stones had been pulled up and carted off for other uses, leaving the street full of holes that filled with water when it rained, and with no where to run to, sat and stagnated. It was made even worse by the fact that the residents of this part of town had made a habit of throwing their rubbish out second story windows, to be washed into the gutter that ran down the middle of the street, or at least that was how it was supposed to work in theory. In practice the gutter had become too shallow with the residue of the years and no one cleaning it out, so the kitchen scraps and other things best left uncontemplated littered the street and collected in the potholes.

                The traveller carefully picked her way through the effluvium filled holes and masses of rotting organic matter that littered the street while wishing that her scent of smell wasn't so acute. At least with the solid leather boots she wore, she wouldn't have to worry about stepping in something accidentally and winding up with an infection, though her footwear would be in good need of a scrubbing. It was obvious from her garb that she was not a local, since nearly everyone around her wore shades of grey, brown and off white, while she stood at looking like a living flame in her russet red, orange, and yellow. Her leggings were a dark orange, almost burnt sienna, with a yellow over the knees, with an extra thickness that suggested extra padding, while her shirt was flame red under the crimson and gold vest, with the two colours working their way up the garment like flames, and the elbows of the shirt were padded in the same way as the knees, though the colour remained unbroken. The outfit was completed by shoulder pads studded with polished garnet and haematite, from which hung a cape, black on the outside, scarlet on the inside, that hung to the woman's knees, and supple black gloves. The belt with the sword mounted on it went without saying.

                The woman also seemed to wear an unusual amount of jewellery, especially for one who wore an outfit that was designed to endure the rigors of the road. Blood red jewels set into silver, gear like backings, adorned her body, one strapped to each wrist, one mounted on her belt and the last hanging between the two shoulder guards. A perfectly circular emerald on a golden chain rested on the back of her left hand while a ring adorned each finger, save the thumb, on her right hand. The one on her little finger was made of water smoothed lapis lazuli, the one her ring finger was yellow topaz mounted on a ring made woven gold, the one on her middle finger was a wooden ring mounted with a hexagon of smoky quartz and the last was a ruby mounted in burnished copper. The last piece was the smallest, yet managed to be the most eye catching was an earring of a tiny platinum chain suspended a teardrop of some unusual golden mineral.

                The woman paused and looked about her, looking for some kind of landmark and in that instant she stopped, she received a first hand demonstration of why that area of the city had such an unsavoury reputation, a scruffy band of hoodlums surrounded her. They leered at her, their eyes lighting up with a hungry light at the sight of her jewellery. Unlike most of the people they preyed upon though, she met the sudden encirclement with neither fear or belligerence and bravado. Instead she merely looked at them, one eyebrow raised and her burnished red hair waving slightly in the fetid breeze. "You boys want something?" she asked, her ruby red eyes bright with excitement.

                "Yeah," one of the said. "How about all those pretty baubles you're wearing. Then maybe we might have a bit of fun with you later. You're a bit scrawny, but we can't be picky."

                "Scrawny?" the woman asked archly. "Just for that remark, you can go first." The thug looked her askance, and that was the last thing he ever did. The woman raised her right hand, holding it claw like while the topaz gem on her ring finger glowed and she called out "_DIGGER BOLT!!!_" A pillar of lightning sprung from her hand and struck the goon directly in the centre of the chest. He jerked once and his hair began to smoulder while smoke rose from his clothes and then he fell to the ground, dead. 

                "Who…who are you?" one of them managed to gasp out.

                The diminutive woman grinned, lifting up her right index finger and igniting a tiny fireball off the tip. "I'm glad you asked that," she said. "I'm pretty sure you would have heard of me. The name's Lina Inverse."

                "You can't be," one of them protested. "Lina Inverse is only a legend."

                "Oh really?" Lina asked. "Could a legend do this? _DIEM WIND!!!_" The topaz ring glowed again and the protester was blasted backwards by a concussive blast of air that glowed with magic. "Now that that's settled," she continued, looking pointedly at the electrocuted corpse and the non-believer who probably only had a handful of unbroken bones left in his body, "lets get down to business. You are bandits, admittedly ones of the urban variety, but bandits nevertheless, and I am the Bandit Slayer. So let's get down to work shall we? _ELMIKIA LANCE!!_"

                The bandit Lina aimed at was caught in the chest by a shaft of white light, which caused him to glow briefly then slump to the ground, the life fled from his body. At this point the remaining three thugs seemed to realise that discretion was the better part of valour and turned tail and fled. One of them, taller and skinnier than the rest moved faster and rapidly outpaced his stockier and shorter legged fellows which saved him from their fate. Lina raised her hand over her head and then brought it down sharply with an incantation of "_MEGA BRANDO!!_" The ground under the two thugs exploded upwards, sending rocks, dirt and two ill-fated bandits skyward. Lina had been around a long time and she had had lots of practise at that particular spell, able to adjust it slightly so that it could merely shake the person on the receiving end up, incapacitate them or kill and in this case she chose the lethal option. The unfortunate duo landed head first into the ground, their necks snapping on impact.

                The remaining bandit dashed around the corner, praying that it would be enough that Lina could no longer see him to avoid her hunting him down, and while he was at it, giving serious thought to taking up an honest profession. He never got a chance to act on those thoughts, as when he turned to look behind him to see if he was being pursued, he never saw the threat in front of him and the last thing he felt was a hot steel blade slicing through his neck.

                Lina walked calmly up the alley where the final bandit had fled and then grinned as she saw the decapitated corpse and standing over it a man dressed in plain tan robes, the cowl of his hood pulled up and a mask pulled over his face, a sword in hand. Though it was always possible that Lina was mistaken just going by physical appearances, there was no mistaking the feel of the magical aura. "Long time no see Zel," she said, posing with her hands on her hips.

                Zelgadis sheathed his sword and looked at Lina with a slight smile. "So it has. What is it this time, about ten years?"

                "About that," Lina agreed. "So what are you doing in Atlas City? Besides pruning back the local criminal population that is."

                "It's a long story," Zelgadis replied. "Why don't we find some place more comfortable and catch up on old times."

                "Ah, a man after my own heart," Lina agreed. "Lead on. And by the way, you're buying."

                Zel just shook his head ruefully and shrugged. He had known Lina a long time and knew better than to try and argue with her, especially when she was hungry. He might have better luck once she had a meal in her, thought the odds of that were slim, but they were better than the ones he had at that moment so he silently lead the way out of the slums and into a more prosperous part of town known for several eating establishments of local renown. He just hoped they would be able to take a huge order on short notice. They eventually came to a place that Zelgadis had heard good things about and entered, taking a seat in the far corner.

                While they were waiting for a waitress come and take their order Lina tipped her chair back to lean against the wall and put her feet on the crossbeam between the table's legs. "So tell me," she said. "You in Atlas City tracking down another cure or is it something else?"

                "Tracking down another cure," Zel admitted easily. "It's probably a dead end though. I don't think anyone knows how to reverse what Rezo did to me except Rezo himself, and its not like I'm in a position to ask him about it."

                "True enough," Lina agreed. "Besides, it's not like it doesn't have advantages. The Hikari-no-Ken is about the only weapon that can harm you left on this world, not to mention your looking awfully well preserved for a man whose centennial birthday's been and gone."

                "Golems don't age," Zelgadis replied wryly. "Beside's your not that much younger than I am and you barely look a day over twenty."

                "Zel, take a look at me," Lina said. "It is a well known fact that powerful mages age slower than most people." She gestured to the talisman around her throat. "I have the Demon's Blood Talismans, the Elemental Rings," and with that she held up her right hand to display the rings, "the Tear of the Earth Dragon," the amulet on her left hand flashed in the light as she held it up, "and a frozen drop of the sea of chaos," she tapped the golden teardrop hanging from her right lobe. "With this many magic amplifiers on me, is it any wonder that I look as young as I do? I've got one here that covers every branch of magic but spirit shamanism."

                "A valid point," Zelgadis conceded.

                Before he could say anything further he was interrupted by a voice saying, "Excuse me. Here are your menus." Both magic wielders looked up to see the waitress, a tall, buxom blonde with a pale complexion. "Just let me know when your ready to order."

                "I'll just have a pot of the house coffee," Zelgadis said calmly. "Lina?"

                "I'll have this, this and this, double portions," Lina said, indicating the items on the menu and then she did something that Zelgadis could barely believe. She winked coyly at the waitress, who blushed and left, jotting their order down on a small piece of paper.

                Once she was gone, Zelgadis raised an eyebrow at his companion. "Was it just me, or were you flirting with the waitress?"

                "Don't worry Zel, your not going senile in your old age, I was flirting," she replied. "Even I get lonely in the middle of the night sometimes you know. And don't tell me you don't, even if you still haven't gotten over Amelia."

                "I don't know what you're talking about," Zelgadis said.

                "Give over Zel," Lina said, rubbing her forehead. "I can understand why you don't want it to be general knowledge, but at least give me credit for figuring it out. I'll admit that Gracia takes after her mother enough that I didn't immediately twig to the fact you're her father, but Grey takes after you too much to deny it, right down to the invulnerable skin, even if his doesn't look like stone and Galiz bears an uncanny resemblance to Rezo, including being blind and I know that the two of you are related. Why you didn't just marry Amelia I don't know."

                "All right, I'll admit it," Zelgadis said. "It was probably futile trying to hide it from you. But you answer me one thing. Why didn't you accept Gourry when he tried to propose?"

                "He and Sylphiel belonged together," she said with a touch of wistful sorrow. "He just wasn't the _one_ for me and Sylphiel loved him so much that it was almost painful sometimes. He was a great friend, and there aren't many who I'd want watching my back if he wasn't there, even if he was so dense it was like talking to a wall sometimes, but we just didn't click that way. Speaking of Sylphiel, have you heard? They finally talked her into taking the throne of Neo-Sairaag."

                Zelgadis grinned back. "Actually, I was there for the coronation. It just goes to prove that if you're stubborn enough, you can win any argument. She was looking well. Going white and a few more wrinkles, but still a few years left in her yet. Of course, she's almost as powerful in White Magic as you are in Black Magic."

                "But couldn't cast a Flare Arrow to save her life," Lina agreed cheerfully. "Do you know who she's named as heir?"

                "Lin, her and Gourry's youngest. He has the one of the three Swords of Light you made and his mother's strength in magic, though at least he can manage attack spells properly. Now since you've been asking me so many questions, I want to ask you one. I've examined all three Swords of Light you made to replace the one Gourry lost and I have two questions. My first question is, I gave Grey the one he has in Sailoon, I know Lin has the one you gave the one you gave to Gourry, but where is the third?"

                Lina shook her head. "Not telling. I hid it for a reason and even if something should happen to the other two, that one will remain safe. What's the second question?"

                "Like I said, I've examined all three of them and for the most part, they're identical to the original, except for one small detail. I'd say they feel incomplete, but that's not quite right. It's more like they're all part of something else."

                "Bingo!" Lina said. She pulled back her cloak to reveal the sword hilt poking out from behind the small of her back and Zel took close look at it for the first time. He knew that Lina had replaced her short sword some years back, but he had never looked closely at the replacement. The scabbard was black leather bound with ruby set silver, and the hilt was long enough that for someone of Lina's stature that it would be a bastard sword. The cross guard was silver set with rubies, swooping upwards in a wing like design, while the handle was wrapped in black leather and capped with a brilliant black opal that shone with an inner fire. "This is the Sword of Shadows. It's the same as the Swords of Light, except where as they are powered by white magic, this is powered by black magic. But if you have this and one of the Swords of Light, and you know the right spell, which only I do, they fuse into a single weapon."

                Zelgadis's eyes went wide as he realised what the odd sensation he had felt from the Swords of Light was. "That weapon calls upon the Lord of Nightmares, doesn't it? It forms the Laguna Blade!"

                "I always knew that you were a smart one," Lina said, beaming like a proud teacher. "And like the original Sword of Light, the three replacements and the Sword of Shadows, it acts as a magic amplifier, but this is keyed to Chaos Magic and Chaos Magic alone."

                "You want that in case someone else gets the idea of releasing another piece of Shaburnigdo," he guessed. "That could amplify the Giga Slave to unimaginable power."

                Lina just grinned, but not a Zelgadis. He looked over his shoulder to see the waitress heading over with their orders perched precariously on her arms. "Less talk, more eating!" she said and eagerly dove into her meal. Zelgadis just smiled ruefully at the waitress and took the pot of coffee from her. As he did so, out of the corner of his eye he noticed the blond use her free hand to a small slip of paper under one of the plates as she put it down. He raised one stony eyebrow at her and she blushed and pulled away like a scalded cat.

                "Zel, don't scare away the waitress," Lina admonished him. "Especially one I'm trying to lure into my bed!"

                "Which brings up back to the original question, which you so neatly avoided," Zel shot back. "I didn't realise that your tastes ran to the fairer sex."

                Lina shrugged and swallowed a mouthful of food. "I'm from Zefilia, I'm flexible. You should visit my hometown during the Lover's Moon Festival. Now as I said before, less talking, more eating!"

                Not willing to push the temperamental sorceress and her volatile temper in a subject that she was obviously a little touchy on, despite trying to act like she wasn't, Zelgadis poured himself a cup of coffee and watched Lina eat, which was enough to make almost anyone feel full, even if they hadn't eaten for several days. Of course she wasn't as bad as she had been when she was still travelling with Gourry, mainly because there wasn't the same urgent need to eat everything in sight before the Swordsman of Light got to it. Zelgadis did notice that the slip of paper that the waitress had left under one of the plates did manage to disappear up Lina's during sleeve without any seeming pause in her voracious attack on the food in front of her.

                Finally replete, Lina sighed and leaned back in her chair once again. "So, got any plans for the afternoon?" she asked.

                "Nothing in particular," Zelgadis replied, finishing his third cup of coffee. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone who can lead me to a possible cure, but not until after sunset and that's several hours away. Do you have anything in mind?"

                "Actually I was planning of finding a magic shop, or at least a jeweller's store. I've got some things that might be worth something."

                Zelgadis nodded in understanding, suppressing a smile. Lina no longer made her living by hunting down bandit gangs, usually at the commission of a local town, and annihilating them before making off with whatever treasure they had accumulated. Rather she got most of her money by acting as 'retrieval specialist,' meaning that people payed her to get back things that had been stolen from her, usually paying exorbitant prices in the process. Of course Lina still lay claim to the title of Bandit Killer and every so often she reverted to old practices, though she's rather people not find out, as she felt is damaged her reputation as a retrieval specialist. Still Zelgadis had known her long enough to know that she was tacitly admitting that she had found a lucrative target on her way to Atlas City and that she now needed to dispose of what she termed bounty and everyone else referred to as loot. What Zelgadis found amusing was the fact that Lina played up on her old reputation as a Bandit Killer when looking for work, but didn't want her clients to know she still was one.

                "I don't have any better plans," he responded in reply to her opening question. "Do you have any place in mind?"

                "Actually, there's a little place I've heard of, but this is the first chance I've had to check it out."

                "Well, what are we waiting for?" Zelgadis said, rising to his feet. Lina just grinned in response as she too rose.

                The two spent a very pleasant few hours hunting through the smaller jewellery stores and magic shops of Atlas City as Lina converted the assorted jewels and other valuables she had managed pick up into ready cash. While Lina amused herself by haggling for all she was worth, right down to the last copper, Zelgadis browsed the shelves, admiring the work in the jewellery stores and more earnestly going through the assorted paraphernalia of the magic stores. Finally though the sun began to touch the western horizon, bathing the sky in crimson and gold glory and Zelgadis had to leave for his meeting. Lina arranged to meet him in the city centre the next morning and bid him a good night, before deciding to leave for her own meeting.

                Lina snapped awake with a start. One instant she was fast asleep, the next she was wide-awake, which was unusual for someone who was not normally a morning person. Her body was not so quick to come around as her mind was though. Her eyelids felt leaden as she opened them, and it was an effort just to move a limb, never mind sitting up. Waiting for strength to return her body, Lina looked around as best she could and was surprised to note that the bed she was in was not the same one as which she had fallen asleep in the previous night. Frowning, Lina looked around the room, noting that her body was slowly becoming more responsive, though not as fast as she would have liked. It was a small room, with little headroom, though that bothered Lina less than most people, and aside from the bed there was a small stand next to it and a stool with her clothes sitting atop it, neatly folded, and her boots under it. There were no windows, with the light provided by a glowing crystal, obviously enchanted with a light spell.

                Examination complete, Lina flopped back into the bed, and tried to reconstruct the previous night, to find out how she had gotten there. She remembered her shopping expedition with Zelgadis clearly enough and their parting just before sunset. She had spent some more time looking through the open-air market in the richer part of town before treating herself to a dinner at one of the more exclusive restaurants in town as a reward for haggling so successfully that afternoon, before heading for the address written on the piece of paper the waitress had given her at lunch. It had turned out to be the address for one of the better boarding houses in Atlas City. Lina had been a little surprised that someone working as a waitress could afford their prices, even if she did do other business on the side. Lina had arrived to find the woman waiting for her, wearing a short robe in a soft pastel rainbow, obviously expecting her. Things had progressed from their about how Lina expected, though she had been surprised by the wine, with a taste that suggested a far more expensive vintage that her companion should have been able to afford. After what Lina could only describe as several _very_ enjoyable hours, both of them had drifted off to sleep and the next thing Lina knew, she was waking up.

                Lina was no fool, and she realised that the wine must have been drugged, though she hadn't detected anything unusual about the taste, and she had been kidnapped. Still Lina had no idea why she had been kidnapped and that was the confusing thing. The fact that her discarded clothing had been brought along with such care, suggested that whoever was behind it had no nefarious attentions, at least in the immediate future. She was also still wearing her chaos magic amplifying earring and a quick look over at the stand confirmed that all her other magic amplifiers were arranged carefully on it. The next possibility suggested that someone wanted to hire her to retrieve something, but if that was the case, whoever it was had gone to almost ridiculous lengths in security and it didn't feel right either and she couldn't think of any other reasons someone would go to such lengths to spirit her away.

                At that moment the door to the room opened and a head peeked in. The owner had long hair so dark that it seemed to drink in the light, pulled back in a ponytail and a slender, high arched face with a pair of piercing emerald eyes. "Ah, you're awake," he said in a soft, melodious voice. "If you would be so kind, Milady wishes for you to join her as soon as possible. She says that all your questions will be answered then. I shall wait for you outside." With that he withdrew.

                Whoever had taken her certainly knew how to pique Lina's curiosity, especially as the man who had just been in had the long, pointed ears of an elf. Curiosity warred with lethargy and curiosity won. She managed to drag herself out of the bed and over to the stool her clothes were on. She was gratified to find that the more she moved around, the more the leadenness disappeared from her limbs. By the time she was fully dressed, she felt almost normal. She then began to put on her magic amplifiers, but when she attached the Demon Blood Talisman to her belt, she realised that although her scabbard was still attached to her sword belt, the sword itself was missing. That struck her as extremely odd. While she was a decent hand with a sword, her magic was her weapon of choice and the Laguna Blade could cut through almost any defensive spell if it came to close quarters fighting. Still, it was just another puzzle rather than any serious problem and if she had to, she still had a magical link to the sword which would allow her to strip the magic and render it nothing more than a decorative piece of metal if she had to.

                She shrugged her shoulders to settle her cape in place and opened the door and the Elvin man waiting outside nodded courteously to her and said, "If you would follow me." He led her down a short, narrow passage way, with three other doors leading off it, all on the same side as the one from which Lina had emerged and by her guess, none of the rooms could have been any bigger than the one she was placed in to fit in the tiny passageway. At the end of the passage were half a dozen steps that led down to a small landing and turned right. Another half dozen steps brought them to another door, which opened into a small, but comfortably appointed, antechamber which was obviously used as a waiting room, though it could comfortably hold no more than three or four people. There was already one person there, and Lina's eyes went wide with surprise when she realised that it was Zelgadis, sitting with his arms crossed on a well cushioned stool, a contemplative look on his face. Lina's escort turned and said to her, "I shall announce your presence to Her Highness. If you would wait momentarily." He didn't wait for an answer before disappearing through a door opposite the one Lina had come through.

                Lina and Zelgadis had known each other long enough that neither actually needed to say a word to communicate that neither of them actually knew what they had brought there for and Lina noted that like herself, Zelgadis had an empty scabbard attached to his sword belt. Lina was about to take a seat when her escort returned and announced, "Her Highness will see you now." Eager to find out what exactly was going on, Lina and Zelgadis followed him through into a richly appointed room, with a ceiling higher than any other room either of them had been in so far, making it seem larger than it actually was. There were for comfortable chairs in the room, one of them almost throne like and dominating the room and Lina couldn't help the sharp intake of breath she made in surprise when she realised that the woman in the throne like chair had been the waitress she had met last night, now wearing regal robes of green and gold lame and her hair pulled back to reveal sharply pointed Elvin ears.

                Zelgadis was even less restrained when he recognised the man in the other occupied chair. "Gelsere! What are you doing here?" Lina turned to look at the barrel chested man in the other chair. He had a strong square face and though he was completely bald on top, he more than made up for it with his dark, waist length beard. He raised one meaty hand and rumbled, "Patience Zelgadis Greyweirs. Your questions will be answered, but first I believe we should be properly introduced. My name is not Gelsere Feindahl as I told you last night. I am Gelsere Invermaine, Grand Duke of the Tor of the Empire of Esvertheen. This lady, whom I believe Miss Inverse has already met, is her Imperial Highness Falara il Gesdane, Second Princess of the Empire of Esvertheen."

                It took all of the self control that Lina had learned in more than a century of life not to let her eyes bug out of her head and her jaw drop, though she knew that she wasn't able to keep her surprise from showing on her face. "Princess! You're a princess?"

                Falara nodded regally. "My apologies for the deception, but mother and her counsellors insisted that I not reveal my identity to you, until we had you somewhere secure. We are somewhat paranoid about dealing with this part of the world, even if it has been nearly eighty years since the barrier fell. Of course not all parts of my deception were that unpleasant." She gave Lina a soft smile that managed to send a tingle up the red headed sorceresses spine.

                Lina mentally shook herself and stood up straighter. "It's all right. This isn't the first time someone's tried to pull the wool over my eyes. But more importantly, what do you want with us?"

                "We want your aid," Gelsere rumbled. "Please, take a seat and allow me to explain." Lina and Zelgadis exchanged a look and then slowly sat down in the two empty chairs, neither so fine as the one Gelsere sat it, but comfortable. As they sat, Gelsere steepled his hands in front of his face, a contemplative look on his face. "Our history dates back to the second Mazoku war. When the Mazoku Lords sealed the Dragon Lords away, the majority of survivors were concentrated within the area constrained by the physical anchors of the seals, Wolf Pack Island, the Demon Ocean and the like. But not all them were trapped there. Those amongst the survivors outside the barrier, scattered, some heading south and east down the continent, others set forth in ships and sailed westward. Our ancestors were amongst those who set out across the ocean in a fleet of fifty ships. The journey was hard. Only five ships of the fifty eventually made landfall, and they carried less than half their original crew. But despite what the survivors had endured they were not broken and they managed to establish a new home for themselves. It was only a small fishing village at first, but it soon became a prosperous river town, and eventually the capital city of what is now the Empire of Esvertheen.

                "Our growth has not always been peaceful though, and some of our previous monarchs have been somewhat conquest minded, though for the last hundred years our armies have served only as guardians of our borders. It was about the same time though that something appeared in the mountains on our southern border. We don't know what it is, only that it is magical in nature and has destroyed anything that we sent to defeat it."

                "Then why do you want us?" Zelgadis asked. "If what ever this is has defeated your own mages, what makes you think that we can succeed where they failed?"

                "Two reasons," Gelsere said. "The first is that we practice magic in different forms than you do. Magic is still divided in to Black, White and the five areas of Shamanism, but how we use it is vastly different. The vast majority of our magic users are trained to create magically enchanted items and over time the training has become so specialised that only our most powerful mages can cast anything more than a light spell on their own. The second is a mixture of your power and specialities, specifically yours Miss Inverse. Black Magic is almost unheard of in the Empire, primarily because of the fact that with magic as we practise it, Black Magic almost always requires some from of blood sacrifice, preferably human."

                "But Black Magic as I practise it simply requires calling upon the powers of the Mazoku and channelling them," Lina said, nodding.

                "That and the fact that even we have heard of the great sorceress who defeated one of the segments of Shaburnigdo."

                "Seems like a fairly straight forward proposition," Lina said, leaning back. "What's the catch?"

                "Travel time," Gelsere said bluntly. "It took us five months to reach here from the capital and the currents and prevailing winds will not be so favourable on the return journey. That and the fact that we have very little knowledge of what you will be facing."

                Lina shrugged. "A little danger never stopped me before and I don't have any pressing reason to stay here. Zel?"

                "If I go, I will have to send some messages. I have some holdings in Sailoon and need to inform the caretaker that I will not be in touch for some time. Beyond that, there is nothing to prevent me from going either."

                "Then you will come?" Falara said.

                "I didn't say that," Lina said. "I merely said that I'm available. Before I agree to anything, I won't to know what I will get out of this. I'm not in the habit of offering my services free of charge, royalty or no."

                Gelsere made a rumbling sound of disapproval, but Falara raised one hand, cutting off anything he might have said. "Peace My Lord of the Tor. We knew this moment would come. Very well Miss Inverse, for starters, the Empire will provide what ever you require that is within our power to provide. Should you require, you will even have the entire Imperial army at your disposal. You will be entitled to a ten percent cut each of whatever may be retrieved from our opponent, with the first choice. As for base payment…" she pulled a golden coin from one voluminous sleeve and placed it on the table, within easy reach of Lina and Zelgadis. "Two hundred thousand of those each, plus an additional three hundred a month and a bonus of your combined weight in gold each upon successful completion."

                Lina picked up the coin and weighed it in her hand contemplatively. It was about the same weight as a Saileese Crown or a Zefilian Sword. And whilst her accumulated wealth was more than the total offered, it had been accumulated over a very long time and two hundred thousand in a single hit, plus the bonus was nothing to be sneezed at, especially since Zelgadis was no lightweight. She flipped the coin to Zelgadis and contemplated the deal.

                "Exactly how much authority will he have," Zelgadis asked, hefting the coin in one stony hand.

                "Absolute," Falara replied. "When you issue a command, it will be as if my mother herself had given the order." She paused a moment. "And should you desire to remain within the Empire, you will be given estates and noble titles."

                "Your Highness!" Gelsere protested. "Your mother specifically said that she would not offer that, irregardless of their answer."

                "And I am free to partition the estates granted to me upon birth as I see fit, including dividing them and conferring them on those I deem worthy, even if they are foreigners, and not even my mother or the High Priest of Ceephied can say otherwise," Falara shot back. "I am willing to go that far, even if my mother is not."

                "You need not make that offer to me," Zelgadis said, sliding the coin back over the table. "All I ask is that a ship is provided so that I may return here once we have succeeded."

                "Of course," Falara said, as Gelsere visibly relaxed.

                "Make it three hundred thousand for both of us and leave that offer an estate open and it's a deal," Lina said. "I might stay once we're finished, or I might not, I haven't decided yet."

                Gelsere grimaced, but Falara nodded in response. "Then Miss Inverse, we have a deal." She turned to Zelgadis. "How long will you need to write your letter and send it Master Greyweirs?"

                "All I need is some ink and something to write on and I can have it on its way in less than an hour. Depending on where we are," he added after a moment."

                "We are just outside Atlas city," Gelsere told him. What we are in now has been folded into the space of a four-horse carriage. No one will even look twice at it."

                Lina nodded, impressed. "My compliments to whoever crafted this carriage then. Spatial folding isn't the easiest thing to accomplish, especially on this scale."

                Falara made a gesture and the tabletop suddenly glowed, a quill, inkbottle and a sheaf of parchment appearing on top of it. Zelgadis picked up the quill, dipped it in the inkbottle and wrote a very brief message in his square, blocky script. He folded into an envelope and then wrote a name on the front. He then pulled a stick of sealing wax out of his cloak, heated it up with a touch of magic. Then he fished out a signet ring bearing a modified version of the Sailoon coat of arms and pushed it into the rapidly cooling wax. He replaced the signet ring and sealing wax and then tucked the letter in his cloak as well. "If you'll show me the way out, I'll have this on its way as soon as possible."

                "Of course," Gelsere said, ringing a small bell. The Elvin man who had escorted Lina to the audience chamber came into the room and after a brief conversation with the Grand Duke, led Zelgadis out of the room. Silently he showed Zelgadis through a door that led into bright morning sunshine outside. Zelgadis squinted slightly at the bright light, then turned around and raised one wiry eyebrow appreciatively. Though the quarters had been rather cramped, they were still several times larger than the two-horse carriage that it looked like on the outside. It wasn't unusual for a skilled magic user to work a spell on pockets or travel sacks so that it was bigger inside than outside, Lina and Zelgadis had several pockets like that in their cloaks, but this was the first time he had seen it employed on such a large scale.

                "Can you bring me my sword?" Zelgadis said to the servant.

                "Of course sir," he said, with a shallow bow. The door closed for about half a minute and then re-opened again and the servant walked down onto the first step, presenting Zelgadis's sword to him hilt first. Zelgadis took up the blade and slid it home into its sheath. As he did so, he ran a brief magical check on it, just to make sure it hadn't been interfered with, either deliberately or accidentally, which was entirely possible when exposed with to the sort of magic power required to fold so much space.

                "I'll be back in around an hour," Zelgadis said. "Two at the outside. If I'm not back by then, Lina will know how to find me."

                "Very well sir. We shall expect you back then." With that the door closed again and Zelgadis turned towards Atlas city, the walls of which was just visible in the distance.

                As he walked, Zelgadis pulled up his hood, though left off the mask that covered the lower part of his face until got closer to the city itself, instead starting to whistle a jaunty tune that he had heard some years ago. Despite his complaints about how Lina's quests always pulled him away from his search for a cure for his condition, he found himself looking forward to a new one. Lina Inverse was the sort of person who could change the entire course of history with a single action and whatever else it may have been, being around her was never boring. It didn't seem quite right without Gourry or Amelia there with them, but Zelgadis was honest enough with himself to admit that he was stuck in a rut and was glad of the chance to get out of it and who knew. It might even turn out to be fun.


End file.
